Policy & Governance

Effective water governance is essential to achieving IWMI’s vision of a water-secure world. Around the globe and in numerous transboundary basins, countries face rising water stress, intensifying climate risks and complex institutional landscapes where policies often outpace implementation. Policies outline objectives and governance organizes the people, systems, and accountability needed to achieve them. IWMI’s Policy and Governance work – led by our flagship work under Policy Innovations – helps bridge this gap by strengthening institutional capability, improving policy coherence and supporting evidence-based decision-making in evidence-based decision-making, including the use of Artificial Intelligence.

Working across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, IWMI partners with governments, basin authorities and communities to diagnose governance challenges, design reform pathways and apply digital and analytical tools that enhance transparency, accountability and resilience. From AI-enabled planning in India to flood-risk dashboards in Addis Ababa, our work demonstrates how data, institutions and people can be better connected to deliver more sustainable, equitable and climate-resilient outcomes. IWMI also engages globally, including co-developing the Just Water Partnerships principles with WaterAid and international partners to strengthen financing and coherence across the water sector. We welcome partnerships that advance more inclusive and effective water governance at all levels.

Contact

Alan Nicol

Alan Nicol

Principal Researcher
Juan Carlos Sanchez Ramirez

Juan Carlos Sanchez Ramirez

Research Group Leader – Water Governance and Political Economy

Projects on this topic

Latest news on this topic

Latest publications on this topic

Thumbnail
Report

CGIAR 10 Year Impact in Nepal

International Water Management Institute | March 24th, 2026
Aryal, Anil; KC, Jibesh; Choudhary, Dyutiman; Rana, Masud; Varijakshapanicker, Padmakumar; Bhatt, Prem Raj; Bhandari, Humnath; Khadka, Manohara
Open Access
Thumbnail
Report

A Scorecard to Assess the Enabling Environment for Water and Climate Innovations in Agriculture

International Water Management Institute | March 20th, 2026
Ires, Idil
Open Access
Thumbnail
Brief

Why IWMI Must Align with Global Processes: An Engagement Playbook for IWMI Scientists

International Water Management Institute | March 19th, 2026
Reddy, Tanisha; Samarasekara, Vidhisha; Ravindranath, Darshini; Colombo, Chiara Christina
Open Access